Moving to Opportunity: an Experimental Study of Neighborhood Effects on Mental Health
Open accessAbstract
Objectives. The health consequences of neighborhood poverty are a public health problem. Data were obtained to examine links between neighborhood residence and mental health outcomes. Methods. Moving to Opportunity was a randomized, controlled trial in which families from public housing in high-poverty neighborhoods were moved into private housing in near-poor or nonpoor neighborhoods, with a subset remaining in public housing. At the 3-year follow-up of the New York site, 550 families were reinterviewed. Results. Parents who moved to low-poverty neighborhoods reported significantly less distress than parents who remained in high-poverty neighborhoods. Boys who moved to less poor neighborhoods reported significantly fewer anxious/depressive and dependency problems than did boys who stayed in public housing. Conclusions. This study provides experimental evidence of neighborhood income effects on mental health.
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The Moving to Opportunity study found no impacts on the children's education or parents' employment or earnings.
“There were no impacts on the children's education or parents' employment or earnings (96).”
From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [96]
Moving out of high-poverty neighborhoods had a positive effect on mental health, although the effects varied for parents and their children depending on their ages.
“Moving out of high-poverty neighborhoods had a positive effect on mental health, although the effects varied for parents and their children depending on their ages.”
From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [96]
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- Authors
- Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- The authors are with the National Center for Children and Families, Columbia University, New York, NY.
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 2003-09
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1576-1582
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- PMC
- PMC1448013
- OpenAlex
- W2102397439
- Cited by
- 776
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 79 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 35 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 70.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Princeton University
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
- Keywords
- neighborhood effects, neighborhood poverty, mental health, Moving to Opportunity, public housing, residential mobility, parental distress, dependency problem, income effects, randomized controlled trials
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child Behavior Disorders, Depression, Follow-Up Studies, Housing, Humans, Mental Health, Middle Aged, New York City, Population Dynamics, Poverty, Poverty Areas, Public Assistance, Residence Characteristics, Stress, Psychological, Urban Health, Vulnerable Populations
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